Can You Help?
by ArrangedloveMatch
Summary: If there's one word that can describe Toph, then it's tough. She isn't one to ask for help; she solves her own problems. But even elite Earthbenders are allowed to be human once in a while, right? A LOT better than it sounds, I promise.


**I've had this in my head for a while, but the actual inspiration for it came when I was typing up a different story**

**This is an old, OLD story. I figured that I should submit SOMETHING, considering that I haven't in such a long time. All my newer stories, were, of course, lost when my computer crashed. Apparently there's a way to get them from the hard drive, but I'm just retyping them. Oh, yeah, I just LOVE punishing myself!! :P**

**Disclaimer: Bryke and Nickelodeon own the show and characters, not me. If I did, then the show would have less filler, _a lot_ more Zuko, and ZUTARA WOULD RULE THE WORLD!**

* * *

**Can You Help?**

* * *

"Hey, Toph, could you hand me some of that firewood?" Sokka asked, poking the dwindling campfire with a stick. "The fire's going out."

Toph sighed lazily from her relaxed position on the ground and smirked. "That seems like a tad too much work, wouldn't you say?" she said. "And anyway, aren't you _holding_ a stick already?"

Sokka scowled. "For your information, _this_ stick isn't for burning. This is my special, one-of-a-kind stick that I use for—"

"For what?" Toph cut in. "Professional fire poking?" She yawned. "Really, Sokka. Just pop it on the fire."

"Never!" Sokka snapped, clutching the precious stick to his chest as if it were his firstborn son.

Toph rolled her blind eyes. "Whatever." She yawned again, then got heavily to her feet. "Well, have fun, I'll be right back."

"Wait—hey!" Sokka yelped and frowned. "Y-You just said that it was too much work for you to grab a piece of firewood and now you're—"

"Now, now, we don't want to have a hernia," Toph scolded teasingly, shaking her finger at him as she began to walk away, "now do we?" She grinned. "Nothing personal, I just gotta take a leak. Nature waits for no one, you know!'

Sokka blinked. "Ok, too much information." He sighed and turned back to the fire as Toph laughed and headed to the surrounding trees, where she'd have a bit of privacy. "I'd say 'have fun'," he murmured to himself as he poked the fire again, "but that sounds _way_ to creepy."

He sighed again as he leaned back to grab a piece of firewood (it was actually closer to him that it was to Toph) and added it to the embers, blowing on it to try and make it catch. He did so for a few moments until he heard a loud, bloodcurdling scream.

"Toph!" he gasped. He jumped up, grabbed his boomerang, and began to run toward the trees from where Toph's scream had originated. He had never heard her scream like that before…he'd barely recognized it as her voice! What had happened to her? Was she all right?

"Toph!" he shouted again as he reached the trees, looking around for any sign of the girl. Then he spotted the top of her head, peaking out from behind a log.

"Toph!" he exclaimed, hurrying forward. "Are you—"

"_Stop!_" Toph's panicked yell stopped Sokka in his tracks. He skidded to a halt. "D-Don't come any closer!" Toph continued in the same panicked voice.

Sokka took a step forward toward her hiding place. "Toph, you _screamed_. What happened? Are you—"

"I'm fine!" Toph said shrilly, sticking a hand above the log and waving it back and forth in a frenzied fashion. "See? See, fine! Great! Super, even!" She lowered her hand, and her voice got a little quieter. "So just…just go away. I'll be right there…"

Sokka still wasn't convinced. "Look, Toph, are you sure that you're—"

"_Go away_!" Toph shouted, her voice high and shrill again. "Go away! Just leave me _alone!!_"

Sokka stepped back a pace in shock, then very slowly and reluctantly walked back to the camp. After a moment, when Toph didn't feel his presence anywhere nearby, she brought her knees up to her chest and moaned.

_Oh, no! No, no, __**NO**__!_ She shook her head back and forth, struggling not to cry. _Why me? Why now? What am I going to __**do**__? _

* * *

"Ok, Aang, I think that that's enough training for today." Katara said, smiling. The Gang had made camp not far from a beautiful lagoon, and Katara and Aang had been practicing their waterbending for the past few hours. Aang, feeling rather wet, nodded gratefully, and the two started to head back towards their camp.

"So, how do you figure Sokka and Toph have been entertaining themselves?" Aang asked, looking up at Katara as they walked side by side.

"I don't think that those two, or at least Toph, ever have a problem with entertainment as long as it's at Sokka's expense," Katara said, laughing. Aang joined in as the pair approached the camp. As they past the trees the bordered the site, Katara accidentally dropped a hairpiece. Aang walked ahead, and as Katara bent to pick it up, she heard a voice.

"Hey, um…Katara?"

Katara straightened up in surprise and glanced around, and her eyes landed on the small figure peaking out at her from the trees. "Toph?"

"Who else, Sugar Queen?" Toph teased, but without much of her usual cheerfulness. Katara noticed and frowned in concern.

"Toph, is something wrong?" she asked. Toph hesitated, then stepped out of the trees.

"Um…" the young blind girl began. "I sort of…need your help with something."

"My help?" Katara was genuinely surprised. It wasn't like Toph to ask anyone for help; it must be very important. And deep down, Katara was rather flattered that Toph wanted to come to her.

"It's…" Toph glanced down. "It's sort of weird…"

"Don't worry, Toph," Katara said, putting her hand on Toph's shoulder. "Whatever it is, I'll try to help in anyway that I can."

"Thanks. Well…" Toph hesitated. "It's sort of…it's sort of embarrassing."

Katara patiently waited for the rest.

Toph swallowed. "See, I'm…I'm, er…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm _bleeding_."

"Bleeding?" Katara repeated, confused. Her eyes swept Toph's form; she didn't appear to be visibly injured. "Where?"

"Um…" Toph's face turned scarlet. "Down…down _there_."

"Down--Oh!" Katara's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh my! So you…so you just started?"

Toph closed her eyes and sighed, her face still red. "Yeah."

There was a moment of silence. Then, without warning, Katara let out a squeal and pulled a very surprised Toph into a tight hug. "Congratulations!" she exclaimed happily. "Wow! Congratulations, Toph!"

"Congra—what are you _congratulating _me for?!" Toph demanded when Katara finally released her.

Katara grinned. "I'm just so proud of you! It's a right of passage, Toph! The bridge from girlhood to womanhood! The beginning of your—"

"Alright, alright!" Toph interrupted. "I get it! I only wanted to know if you…if you had anything that I could, you know…_use_."

Katara nodded, still smiling. "Of course, of course! You can borrow anything you need until we get to the next town. Then you can but some for yourself." The Waterbender giggled and clapped her hands together in excitement. "I'm sorry, but this is just so exciting!"

"Well, I hate to break up your lovefest," Toph grumbled. "But as exciting as you find it, I'm still _leaking_ over here, so if you don't mind…"

"Sorry, sorry!" Katara said, unable to wipe the grin off her face. "I guess that it's the mother in me. Come on, we'll fix you up back at the camp."

Katara began to lead the way back to camp, but was stopped when Toph grabbed her forearm. "Hey, Katara?"

"Hmm? Yes?"

"Um…you wouldn't mind _not_ mentioning this to the guys, would ya?" Toph said. "It's humiliating enough as it is…"

"I wouldn't dream of it," Katara said firmly. "Don't forget, I've been through this too, you know." Toph smiled a little and nodded, and the girls began walking.

"And thanks," Toph added in a quiet undertone. In response, Katara put her arm around her younger friend's shoulders.

"No problem," she whispered back.

* * *

Later that night, Katara felt herself lightly shaken awake. "Hey, Sugar Queen! Wake up!"

Katara sat up. "Toph? What—"

"_Shh_!" Toph held her finger to her lips and jerked her head toward the sleeping boys. "I need to talk to you."

Katara nodded and pushed her sleeping bag aside. after stretching, she stood and followed Toph a short distance away, where they could talk without waking the others.

"What's the matter, Toph?" Katara asked. "Are you having trouble with the stuff I gave you?"

"No, it's working great," Toph said. "I'm very…dry."

Katara giggled lightly. "Well, what did you want to talk about?"

Toph grinned softly. "Well, I just wanted to thank you again. You know, not just for giving me the stuff. I wanted to thank you for doing what I asked and not saying anything. You didn't mention anything to the guys or…or make a big announcement or anything. And…and I appreciate that a _lot_."

Toph sighed. "My mom would have done the opposite. I remember when she first had me take a _health tutor_ and stuff, and she told me that she couldn't wait until I…started. She said that she wanted to tell _everyone_ when the time came." The blind earthbender grimaced. "She told me that she would throw a _party_."

Katara couldn't help but laugh. "Really?"

"Really." Toph grinned again. "So I just wanted to let you know how…how much I appreciated it."

Katara smiled and shook her head. "Toph, even if you _hadn't_ asked me I wouldn't have gone _blabbing_ it out to everyone."

Toph blinked. "Really?"

Katara nodded. "You know what I said earlier, about how I've been through it, too?" When Toph nodded, she continued. "When I first started, Gran-Gran got very, very excited. So she decided to tell the _entire_ village about it."

Toph laughed. "_Seriously_? Aw man, that must've _sucked_!"

Katara laughed, too. "It _did_. She didn't tell me that she was going to do it, either. I was _so _embarrassed." She shrugged. "So, needless to say, I know how you feel. And I would never, _ever_ dream of putting anyone through my humiliation."

Toph grinned. "Thanks, Katara. I'm just glad that you were even here, otherwise I would have had to steal one of Sokka's shirts, or something!"

"It was no trouble," Katara said. Her eyes twinkled. "Who knows? It won't be long before you'll want to borrow my bras!"

Toph blinked and was silent for a moment. "Don't even joke about that, Sugar Queen."

_**Fin**_

* * *

**There it is, my friends. I'm not very good at writting from Toph's point of view, but I'm satisfied. This is actually based on what happened to my cousin…yeah, it was at a family reunion, her mom (my insane aunt) got too excited and ended up telling the ENTIRE family. We're talking aunts, uncles, grandparents, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers, sisters, even the French foreign exchange student that was there. Ah, good times, good times.**

**But just on a side note...OMIGOD AVATAR SEASON FINALE ON JULY 19th!! WHOO HOO!! i can NOT wait for this...it's going to be so epic, i can just FEEL it!! coughZUTARAcough**

**And before you go and attempt to CRUSH my dreams...yes, i have in fact read _Sozin's Comet, _this so-called _"Spoiler Book," _so i am well aware of what supposedly "happens." but seriously,don't even get this girl STARTED on that book. i'm not saying that it's ALL lies...i just want to see some proof first.**

**Anyway, you are more than welcome to hit the pretty button and submit a review **

**IFYOUDON'TKILLERCLOWSWILLHUNTYOUDOWNINYOURSLEEPWITHTHEIREVILATTACKMONKEYS!! **

**Haha just kidding…but seriously, those clowns…**


End file.
